Swimmer highlights community, faith in film

Notre Dame to allow filming of crash victim's story on campus.

Haley Scott DeMaria does not cry when she tells the story of the bus accident that temporarily paralyzed her and killed two of her teammates.

She does not shed a tear when she reads her book about her long months of recovery after the accident.

But she sobbed when she read the script for the movie based on her experience.

On Jan. 24, 1992, a bus carrying the Notre Dame women's swim team back to campus after a meet slid off the Indiana Toll Road in heavy snow near mile marker 75, two miles from home. DeMaria, a freshman, was paralyzed. Meghan Beeler and Colleen Hipp, also freshmen, died in the crash.

In the wake of the accident and her teammates' deaths, doctors told DeMaria she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. Less than two years later, she returned to the pool and won her heat in a 50-yard race.

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DeMaria's recovery, both physically and emotionally, and her return to swimming after the accident are documented in her book, "What Though The Odds: Haley Scott's Journey of Faith and Triumph."

The film, tentatively titled "Two Miles From Home," is based on her book.